2nd FULL Triathlon

It's been a minute since I last blogged, but guarantee I've been getting in my workouts and I think they're paying off. Had my second full Tri yesterday (I say "full" because what was supposed to be my second tri turned into a duathlon).

The weather was great, and I actually got a little hot during the run and had to unzip my jacket and take off the gloves during the last mile or so. Again, this was a very small sprint with only 53 participants total, and I was pulling up second-to-last during the 5k run which started off this race - at least up until the half-way point where I caught up with a 49 y/o man who had slowed down for a water break. Normally, I do 6:1 intervals while running (even while training), so running non-stop even for such a short period is somewhat hard for me, but I managed to walk only minimally during this entire run.

I pulled into T1 and am happy to report that I KILLED the other competitors, spending only 28.8 seconds in this area. Of course, most of this is probably due to the fact that the majority of other participants had to change into their cycling shoes, while I biked in my tennis shoes. Although this saved time in T1, I paid for it by being the absolute slowest person to complete the 12 mile bike ride. That's not to say that there weren't a few people behind me (two to be precise) when I made my way to T2, but my 54:35 ride (a 13.3 mph pace) left a little to be desired. Obviously I need to step it up in this area, and I'm thinking (or is it, hoping) that the installation of some clipless pedals will help with that. We'll see.

Spent a little more time in T2 - just about 1:35 minutes, but that is to be expected when you have layers to peel, shoes to tear off, and socks to toss aside - not to mention a 100 foot jog to the indoor pool to start the swim. Intially, I had planned on wearing a swim cap, but after jumping in the pool decided this would take me too much time and threw it aside as I pulled on my goggles and kicked off the side of the pool. Felt great the entire swim, and have continued to breath every 2 strokes rather than 3 which I've found does wonders for my stamina. At one point, a gal in my tri-training group who I had a fairly good lead on during both the run and bike, shot past me during the swim (she swam in college and still had the skills, obviously). I didn't fret however, for half-way through the lanes I spotted my tri-partner/best friend/biggest competitor only one lane ahead of me (note: she kicked my ass in both the run (1.5 minute lead) and bike (2 minute lead). With only 1.5 lanes to go I passed her and came out of the pool with only 3 triathletes behind me. Final approximate finishing time: 1:42:15 for the 5k run, 12 mile bike, and 400m swim.

Now, up until this event I told myself that time and place didn't matter and that I was just in it to finish and to have the experience of having completed a triathlon. After carefully scrutinizing my time against everyone elses however, being the second slowest runner, the slowest cyclist, and near the end of the pack for the swim, I have decided that I must do SOMETHING to get faster/better at these sports. I have been training my ass off so far, and feel that, although there have been improvements, I'm still not where I want to be - especially in comparison to the other participants. I mean - granted, Shelbyville Tri Series is a very small event. But I certainly don't want to be bringing up the rear in larger races, such as the Rev3 Tri in Knoxville in May - which will be my largest (in regards to participants and length) to date.

So.....training starts again tomorrow. Suppose I'll keep on keeping on and have to take a good, hard, long look at my performance and step it up a notch or two.